Acting as pro bono partner to Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Reed Smith has filed a national class action challenging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) wrongful detention of Vietnamese refugees residing in the United States without due process and in violation of statutory law.

Under the new administration, ICE has aggressively targeted immigrants from various countries, including Vietnam, and has detained these individuals across the nation. The class action alleges that Vietnamese refugees are effectively detained indefinitely because of a Repatriation Agreement between the United States and Vietnamese governments that precludes the deportation of Vietnamese individuals who arrived to the United States prior to 1995. It is currently estimated that close to 10,000 Vietnamese individuals may be impacted by the new ICE policy. The class action seeks to ensure that basic constitutional protections are afforded to these individuals.

The Reed Smith team that is working on the case pro bono with Asian Americans Advancing Justice includes Ray Cardozo, Tuan Uong, Farah Tabibkhoei, Le Duong, Patil Derderian, and Christopher Butler.

The case is Hoang Trinh, et al. v. Thomas D. Homan, et al., no. 8:18-CV-316-CJC-GJS, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

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